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The Darius Seal

Object type

Museum number

89132

Title (object)

The Darius Seal

Description

Chalcedony / prase cylinder seal: streaked, green to grey-brown, clouded; carved scene shows chariot, lions, symbol, tree and inscription; a royal personage (Darius I) facing right, stands at the back of a chariot, with his torso presented frontally; he has a long pointed beard, striated across the cheek and vertically down the chin and chest, his hair, in diagonal lines, is in a full-page boy style at the nape of the neck, he wears a dentate crown with four well-defined points set on wide circlet decorated with a band of dots, and is dressed in the full-length formal robe (only the top half of the garment is visible), with pendant sleeves folded back from the arms and hands to leave them free to aim his bow, which ends in a curved bird-head. The charioteer stands before the king, leans forward and guides the two horses; his short pointed beard and shoulder-length hair are striated, he wears a diadem with central boss and his upper garment is a cape with a double line border.

The waist high sides of the two-wheeled chariot are covered by three narrow crossed (possibly cruciform) panels or straps, a rounded handle-like, looped projection protrudes from the upper end of the back, against which the king leans, while at the front is a notched, curved pole-brace; the wheel is eight-spoked with a thick, studded rim; the pole links chariot to the yoke. The two horses (the heads are shown as double, but only one body is depicted) gallop with forelegs stretched out and bent slightly downwards, their harnesses are decorated with large tassels, the penis is shown and the tail hangs down but appears to be knotted at the tip. The king has shot two arrows into the eye and front paw of a confronting, rampant and snarling lion; its heavy mane is marked by a cross-hatched pattern ending in a ventral projection down the body. Beneath the hooves of the horses lies a lion cub, face downwards (probably dead). All the animals have well-defined and lightly modelled musculature, discreet drill-holes mark out the eyes, jaws and hind paws of the lion; a curious group of drill-holes mark the lower end of the further foreleg of the horse.

Above the scene hovers a winged sun-disc from which rises the upper part of a male figure (the god Ahuramazda), his beard is striated, he wears a crown with spikes (giving it a feather-like appearance), set on a narrow circlet, his garment has long pendant sleeves from which emerge his hands, one raised, the other extended and holding a ring. The wings are long and narrow but widen slightly at the tips and are marked by long horizontal lines and divided into six sections but diagonal lines, while the tail is marked by fine vertical lines sectioned across by one curving line; two scroll-like appendages emerge from each side. Flanking the scene are two identical palm-trees or date-palms with globular bunches of fruit beneath the palm fronds on each side, and base petioles shown by a continuous criss-cross pattern down the trunks ending in widened bases. The whole is placed on a ground line. To the side is three-line vertical inscription panel.

Inscriptions

Inscription Type

Inscription Script

Inscription Language

Inscription Translation

Inscription Comment

Trilingual cuneiform inscription in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian.

Inscription Type

inscription

Inscription Script

Cuneiform

Inscription Language

Old Persian

Inscription Translation

I [am] Darius, the king.

Inscription Comment

Trilingual cuneiform inscription in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian.

Inscription Type

inscription

Inscription Script

Cuneiform

Inscription Language

Babylonian

Inscription Translation

I [am] Darius, the great king.

Inscription Comment

Trilingual inscription in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. The word 'great' only occurs in Babylonian.

Curator's comments

This was probably a seal of office. Classified by Merrillees as Persepolis, Early/Mature style. The cruciform pattern on the side of the chariot resembles that on the front of the gold chariot-model in the Oxus Treasure, as do the studded wheel treads and the loop at the back representing a support for easy mounting. No. 15 in a previously issued series of postcards captioned "Assyrian monuments bearing on Bible history in the British Museum". Two coloured facsimile copies were made in 2003, one for the "Enlightenment" display in the refurbished King's Library and the other for handling/loan purposes. According to Merrillees catalogue "the transparency of the seal surface was probably induced by oiling", but whether this was ancient or represents a 19th century treatment for an earlier moulding and casting is unclear.Cat. entry for "Alexander the Great and the opening of the world – Asian cultures in transformation" (Svend Hansen, Alfried Wieczorek and Michael Tellenbach, eds)

The Darius Seal Said to have been found in Thebes, Egypt Purchased in 1835, formerly in the Salt collectionChalcedony; height 3.70cm, diameter 1.70cm British Museum, London, Inv.-Nr. 89132a [facsimile]

This was probably a seal of office although it is popularly referred to as the “seal of Darius”. It is one of the most heavily published or illustrated examples of Achaemenid art. The scene shows Darius I standing at the back of a two-wheeled chariot which is being guided by his charioteer. The cruciform pattern on the side of the chariot resembles that on the front of a gold chariot-model in the Oxus Treasure, as do the studded wheel treads and the loop at the back representing a support for easy mounting. The subject is a lion hunt and the scene is framed by date palms in full fruit. Above the scene hovers a winged sun-disc from which rises the upper part of a male figure which is usually identified as the god Ahuramazda. A trilingual cuneiform inscription repeats the phrase “I [am] Darius, the king” in Old Persian and Elamite, expanded slightly in the Babylonian version as “I [am] Darius, the great king“.

Literature: J.E. Curtis & N. Tallis (eds), Forgotten Empire: The world of Ancient Persia, London 2005 (cat. 398); P.H. Merrillees, Catalogue of the Western Asiatic seals in the British Museum: Pre-Achaemenid and Achaemenid periods, London 2005 (cat. 16).

Associated names

Acquisition name

Acquisition date

1835 (29th June)

Acquisition notes

Sotheby's sale of Salt collection, 29th June 1835; catalogued as no.74 in d'Athanasi catalogue of the Salt Collection where the object is said to have been "found in lower Egypt", in a tomb on the left bank at Thebes.

Department

Middle East

BM/Big number

89132

Registration number

Agate cylinder seal; carved scene shows Darius I, standing in a chariot shooting at a facing rampant lion with two arrows penetrating its head; second lion lying dead below the chariot; chariot has a pair of wheels, shown with eight spokes and studded treads; side decorated with cruciform pattern; loop at back; chariot drawn by two horses, galloping, steered by charioteer who stands and leans forward; scene is framed by two erect date palms with full fruit; winged sun-disc and bust placed centrally above and facing right; entire scene placed above a horizontal base-line; inscription in three lines.